At the beginning of the 20th century, Brühl in Leipzig was a significant global hub for the fur trade, in which many Jewish families were involved. The city's Jewish community was large and vibrant. This came to a violent end during the Nazi era. The history of Jewish life on the Brühl has been largely erased architecturally and is barely visible today. Unlike other people and events that the city publicly commemorates, this part of the Brühl's history remains invisible.

The title "Too Heavy to Carry" metaphorically refers to confronting the Shoah and the invisibility of Jewish stories on Leipzig's Brühl. Specifically, it refers to the objects, furniture, and family mementos, as well as the photographs, that Jewish families had to leave behind in their homes when they fled or were deported. The project aims to make this forgotten history visible and draw a line from the past to the present. We want to appeal to a sense of social responsibility based on empathy and humanity that leaves no room for anti-Semitism.

The project is based on the poem "Did You Close the Door Softly?" by Holocaust survivor Ruth Lansley.

It was first developed for the 10th edition of the f/stop Festival für Fotografie Leipzig, "Flucht in die Öffentlichkeit," curated by Magdalena Stöger and Leon Hösl in 2024. Then, it was shown at "KONSTELLATIONEN V: Lücken, die nicht schließen – Jüdisches Leben und Kohlenindustrie in Zentrum Nord," Goase e.V., also in 2024.

in 2025 with the support of the Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen (Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony), the project was developed into a site-specific intervention: a temporary memorial in Leipzig's public space on Hainspitze, located in the historic Brühl district. The project included city tours, art workshops, and a website (https://www.hierwarwas.de, currently only available in German).